This invention relates to interactive television program guide systems, and more particularly, to interactive television program guide systems based on client-server arrangements.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Users have traditionally consulted printed television program schedules to determine the programs being broadcast at a particular time. More recently, interactive television program guides have been developed that allow television program information to be displayed on a user's television. Interactive television program guides, which are typically implemented on set-top boxes, allow users to navigate through television program listings using a remote control. In a typical program guide, various groups of television program listings are displayed in predefined or user-selected categories. Program listings are typically displayed in a grid or table. On-line program guides have been proposed that require users to navigate the Internet to access program listings.
Client-server based program guides have been proposed in which program listings are stored on a server at a cable system headend. The server provides the program listings to program guide clients implemented on the set-top boxes of a number of users associated with each headend. As users navigate within a program listings grid, the server provides program listings to the client for display. Such systems, may be limited in their functionality due to their limited use of the resources of the server.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an interactive televison program guide system in which server resources are used to provide enhanced program guide features not provided by conventional set-top-box-based or client-server-based program guides.